Begin Again
by MagicalxMinx
Summary: "I think it's strange that you think I'm funny cause he never did." Inspired by the Taylor Swift song of the same name, Hermione tries dating again 8 months after Ron and her break up, and finds that maybe it might not be so bad after all.


"Cause you throw your head back laughing like a little kid,  
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny cause he never did,  
I've been spending the last 8 months thinking all love ever does  
Is break, and burn, and end.  
Then on a Wednesday, in a café…  
I watched it begin again."

Hermione Granger sighed softly as she slipped her feet into the cream colored high heels she borrowed from her best friend Ginny Weasley. They were half a size to large, and her feet slid around in them a tiny bit, but every time she wore them she felt like she was channeling Ginny's confidence, so they had turned into her favorite shoes to wear.

She glanced at herself in the full length mirror that hung in her bathroom, sighed again, and left her flat.

The young witch was heading out to a small café in Muggle London, about to take part in her first date since the end of her last relationship.

She had dated Ron Weasley for two years, but loved him far longer. Breaking up was one of the hardest things they had ever done, but both of them knew it wasn't working. Ron was engaged to Lavender Brown now.

They had broken up eight months ago, and he was already engaged to the most un-Hermione-like person in all of the wizarding world.

Ginny had set Hermione up on a date. With a different Weasley boy. She seemed rather desperate to keep Hermione in the family, at first trying to set her up with Percy, then Charlie, Hermione finally agreed when Ginny offered a name that seemed so incredibly incorrect.

"Fred Weasley. You want to go on a date with Fred Weasley…" Ginny had repeated back to her.

"I don't ever know Charlie…and Percy is so..stuffy. I think if I'm going on a date with anyone, it may as well be someone that I get on with well enough, and I've never had any real issues with the twins…" Hermione rationalized.

And so, she was meeting Fred. She walked into the café five minutes before they had agreed to meet, she expected him to arrive late, after all, Ron always did, and they were related. She was wrong, however, as Fred was sitting at a table in a corner, face slightly pale, and a handful of flowers. She smiled as she walked over to meet him.

"Hello Fred!" she greeted, allowing him to give her a kiss on the cheek as he handed over the flowers. "And thanks for these, you didn't have to do that."

"It's not a problem. Besides, if I didn't impress you, Ginny probably would have hexed me, and that's never a nice thought." He said with a wink.

She laughed lightly, happy that he hadn't changed all that much since she had seen him last.

"So tell me, why did you agree to meet me?" she asked after ordering her lunch, and returning her gaze to his attractive face.

"Honestly, when Ginny said that of all the Weasley men, you chose me, I was so darn flattered, I just had to show up to see if it was true, or if Ginny was playing a prank on me." He replied, making her laugh. "What about you…why did you pick me instead of any of the other choices?"

"Well, I figured if Ginny was going to make me go on a date with any of you, I might as well have a good time, and I knew you would be the best option for that. Not to mention, can you imagine the look on Ron's face when he finds out that we went on a date? He might just explode!" she said wickedly.

Fred laughed heartily at that. "Hermione Granger, who would have thought you had a dark side?!" he exclaimed.

The lunch went by quickly. She was telling him stories from work, and he was laughing hysterically at them. It was strange to find he thought she was funny. Ron had never exactly understood her slightly sarcastic sense of humor.

In fact, Ron had rarely understood anything about her. And yet, she had spent the last eight months thinking about how horrible it was that he wasn't right for her. Thinking that he was her only chance for love, and that all love ever did was end, so why bother even going for anything.

"I'm afraid I have to go, Hermione. Tomorrow George and I have a function to go to at the ministry, and so we're keeping the shop open a little later tonight, since we'll be closed tomorrow." He said, looking genuinely sad that there lunch was coming to a close.

"Why does the Ministry always find it wise to hold special events on Thursdays? Doesn't it just make more sense to have them on a weekend?" she asked, also not quite ready for the date to be over.

"Since when has the Ministry ever made sense?" he replied, raising an eyebrow and paying for the meal.

"However, they did wise up and suggest we bring dates this year. You wouldn't happen to be free tomorrow night, would you?" he asked, his eyes searching hers, not staring at the ground awkwardly.

She met his gaze and beamed at him. "I'm free tomorrow evening. What should I wear?"

He grinned back. "It doesn't matter what you wear, you'll be absolutely stunning in it, as always." With that he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, and told her he'd pick her up the next evening.

The entire walk back to her flat, Hermione had a dazed grin on her face. It fell off quickly, however, when as she turned the door handle, she realized it wasn't locked. And she knew that she had, in fact, locked it before she left. There was someone in her home!

Before she had much time to worry, Ginny Weasley popped into her line a vision, a cup of steaming hot tea in her hands, Hermione's fluff slippers on her feet.

"Well it's about bloody time you got back! Your lunch was supposed to be over an hour ago! Was it that bad that you had to walk around for an hour to try and forget it?!" exclaimed the younger girl, and Hermione flopped onto the sofa beside her, relief that she wasn't about to be brutally murdered flushing through her.

"No, actually. Fred and I had a really good time…we just said goodbye only fifteen minutes ago, and he's asked me out again tomorrow." Hermione replied, the fact still shocking her, in all honesty.

"And you said no, because it's weird that you'd be seen in public with Fred Weasley twice, right?"

"No…I said yes."

"Hermione, what the hell!?" Ginny shouted.

"I don't know! I went into this lunch thinking if anything, I'd get to have a nice meal with an old friend, and left with butterflies in my stomach, and a date for tomorrow evening!"

"Hermione! This is great! I can't believe I never thought to pair you two up sooner! Fred and Hermione! Who would have thought! Where are you going on your date tomorrow?!"

"Some Ministry event, I'm not actually sure what it is."

Ginny yelped. "Hermione! You need to go shopping! This 'Ministry event' just so happens to be an award ceremony for business professionals in the area, and Fred and George are guests of honor! I completely forgot it was tomorrow! Who has events like that on a Thursday, right?"

Hermione laughed, but allowed Ginny to drag her around town looking at many pretty dresses, and gorgeous shoes, appreciating all of the hairstyles Ginny showed her in the magazines, and buying the outfit that Ginny promised to be "absolutely perfect."

She couldn't believe, that after all of this time moping about Ron, she was going on her second date the next evening with Fred Weasley, who just so happened to be much more suited for Hermione then Ron had ever been.

She wasn't sure how their date would go. Maybe it would crash and burn, maybe they would end up engaged in a few months, too. She didn't know. But what she did know, was that Wednesday afternoon, lunch in a Muggle café with one, Mister Fred Weasley, had allowed her to believe in the possibility of love existing again.

And really, she couldn't have asked for anything more in a date.

A/N: Okay, I think I'm going to leave it here, maybe come back and do a sequel if I get some good responses. I love Fred and Hermione together, and after hearing the song "Begin Again" by Taylor Swift, I was inspired immediately, and took a break from my Chaptered F/Hr to give you all this little creation! I hope you enjoyed it! Leave me some love, and I'll give you a part two. Or maybe even make it another multi chaptered story, huh? Let me know what you think! :)


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